February
17
News and culture for the students of Kwantlen Polytechnic University, by the students, for the students since 2009
2015
The Ultimate Showdown the voter’s guide to the ksa general election
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Editorial
The Runner
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February 17 / 2015
Danielle George
From The
Editors
Vote, dammit.
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Kier-Christer Junos Coordinating Editor
Even if you feel indifferent about your need for representation at this school, you still have the benefit of students who will advocate for you. Our student union houses many of these advocates, however, those students are not as ubiquitous in our university senate and Board of Governors. We need strong voices to represent our perspectives. The university senate dictates a university’s academic mandates. The Board of Governors is the highest legislative body in a university, with two-thirds of its mem-
bers appointed by government officials. We should be electing strong representatives to make their way into those seats. The people that we vote for this week may very well try to reach those higher university boards someday. In the meantime, they’re running for a spot on the council of the Kwantlen Student Association, which in itself holds a fair amount of weight. So, in this special issue of The Runner, we’ve provided information on the 28 candidates privy to election, so you can discern for yourself which voices are the strongest. Those candidates for campus, faculty and constituency representatives will be up for election on Feb. 18 and 19. The candidates are,
obviously, numerous, but the majority of the representative positions are unfortunately uncontested. Many of the positions can be held by one person or a set number of people, and the number of people running equal those set numbers. The only contested positions are for the Surrey campus representative, and the Students of Colour representative. There isn’t a single person running to represent Langley campus, and some faculties will remain without representation as well. Besides having a small group of people to choose from, this lack of competition is problematic because it signals a lack of involvement. Yet, you can determine, judging from these facts, that these candidates could be
among the handful who truly care about student representation at Kwantlen. It means a lot that they’ve nominated themselves as candidates. But just because someone has nominated themselves, even if they’re the only person running in that category, doesn’t mean they deserve your vote—that goes for new and seasoned candidates. If you’re unconvinced, you can vote no. We hosted and broadcasted an all candidates’ debate on Feb. 11. Questions for candidates touched on the roles of representatives and examples of changes they would implement. From there, you could tell that not all candidates were made equal. No matter the circumstances, we must be critical of our potential and current advocates so our perspectives are accurately represented. Understand that every perspective in the Kwantlen community matters in the operation of this university’s activities. If you feel your identities are already strongly represented at this school, great. Let’s make it so everyone feels that way. It starts with your vote, this week.
EDITORIAL DIVISION Continue the Conversation!
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The Runner is student-owned and operated by Kwantlen Polytechnic University students, published under the Polytechnic Ink Publishing Society. Arbutus 3710/3720 12666 72 Ave. Surrey, B.C, V3W 2M8 778.565.3801
www.runnermag.ca Vol. 07, Issue no. 12.5 February 17, 2015 ISSN# 1916 8241
Coordinating Editor / Kier-Christer Junos editor@runnermag.ca @kierjunos
Social Media Specialist / Yaunna Sommersby @yaunnarae
Executive Editor / Samantha Thompson deputy@runnermag.ca @sampthompson
Associate Editor / Connor Doyle
Cover Art: Mark Stewart
CONTRIBUTORS Danielle George, Awais Mushtaq, Torin Slik, Anna Phan, Louis Luzuka The Runner recognises that our work, both in and out of the office, takes place on unceded Coast and Strait Salish territories, specifically the shared traditional territories of the Kwantlen, Katzie, Semiahmoo, Sto:lo and Tsawwassen First Nations. Our name is inspired by the hun’qumi’num meaning of Kwantlen, which is tireless hunters or tireless runners. Just as Kwantlen is adaptable and changing so is The Runner.
Production Editor / Roland Nguyen production@runnermag.ca
Co-Art Director / Mark Stewart photos@runnermag.ca @markstewart
Co-Art Director / Charis Au
Staff Writer / Tristan Johnston
BUSINESS DIVISION Operations Manager / Scott Boux office@runnermag.ca / 778.565.3801
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The Runner
February 17 / 2015
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Election Guide
The Runner
Roland Nguyen
Back to Basics Figuring out the maze of the KSA.
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The Runner Hivemind
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Campus Representatives
February 17 / 2015
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With 28 candidates running in the upcoming election for the Kwantlen Students Association, it’s hard to keep track of all the positions candidates are campaigning for. Behold, a guide that will tell you the basics of everything you need to know heading to the polls.
The role of the campus representative is to represent the interests of students on a particular campus.
Surrey Campus Representative One to be elected, four candidates. Candidates: Tashi Barungtsang, Abdulsalam (Abdul) Kulan, Scott Mossop, Vikramjit Saggu. Role: To represent the interests of students on the Surrey campus. Why you should care: Surrey gets a lot of attention from the KSA, and needs someone who will continue events and campaigns while working with other campus representatives.
Richmond Campus Representative One to be elected, one candidate. Candidates: Chanel Kwong Role: To represent the interests of students on the Richmond campus. Why you should care: Richmond is constantly undergoing new changes, and needs someone who will advocate for services to accompany its growing population.
Cloverdale Campus Representative
Students of Colour Representative
Constituency Representatives
The role of the constituency representative is to represent and advocate for students who selfidentify as part of their constituency.
Aboriginal Students Representative Mature Students Representative One to be elected, one candidate.
One to be elected, one candidate.
Candidates: Justin Bige Role: To represent aboriginal students on the KSA council, and ensure the concerns of the constituency are heard. Why you should care: Aboriginal issues, including support for the Idle No More movement, have led to heated discussion at past councils. KPU has only now named an elder-in-residence, and ongoing struggles between oil companies and First Nations will mean a strong and independent voice is needed at the table to ensure aboriginal students are properly represented.
Candidates: Michael Morris Role: To represent mature students on the KSA council, and ensure the concerns of the constituency are heard. Why you should care: Mature students are a growing demographic at KPU and don’t always get the attention they deserve. They need someone who understands their unique circumstances to advocate for them on council.
One to be elected, one candidate. Candidates: Morgan McKee Role: To represent the interests of students on the Cloverdale campus (KPU Tech). Why you should care: Cloverdale campus is evolving, and needs someone who will advocate for services for students.
Langley Campus Representative One to be elected, no candidates.
One to be elected, three candidates
Queer Students Representative One to be elected, one candidate.
International Students Representative One to be elected, one candidate. Candidates: Karanjot Dhillon Role: To represent international students on the KSA council, and ensure the concerns of the constituency are heard. Why you should care: International students pay incredibly high tuition fees and don’t always get the supports and services they need.
Candidates: Daniel Ali, Tobekile Mpofur, Alhasan Rashid Role: To represent the interests of self-identified students of colour on campus. Why you should care: With new social justice groups like KPIRG having grown over the last year, there are plenty of opportunities for event collaborations. Strong leaders will be needed to help collaborate with different constituency groups.
Students with Disabilities Representative One to be elected, one candidate. Candidates: Kimberley McMartin Role: To represent students with disabilities on the KSA council, and ensure the concerns of the constituency are heard. Why you should care: Students with disabilities deserve someone who will advocate for accessibility beyond the legally-mandated requirements.
women students Representative One to be elected, one candidate.
Candidates: Kayla England Role: To represent self-identified queer students on KSA council, and ensure the concerns of the constituency are heard. Why you should care: The queer students representative position has been vacant since the last election, when the successful candidate resigned shortly after being elected. A strong voice is needed to ensure that queer representation on campus goes beyond the summer’s Pride celebrations.
Candidates: Chelsea Scott Role: To represent the interests of self-identified women on campus. Why you should care: There is a lot happening on campus with women’s issues, like WOOW and the women’s centre working group. Women on campus need someone who is going to advocate for what they want, including creating the safe space that is necessary in any community.
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The Runner
February 17 / 2015
Election Guide
Past Voter Turnouts: General Election 2013
VOTES
By-election 2013
Votes
General election 2014
VOTES
1982 460 538
Your vote matters!
Faculty Representatives
Make your way to the polls on the 18th and 19th!
The role of the faculty representative is to represent the students in a respective faculty on KSA Council, and make sure their concerns are heard.
Arts Representative Four to be elected, four candidates. Candidates: Victoria Fraser, Simon Massey, Alex McGowan, Tanvir Singh Role: To represent the faculty of arts on the KSA Council, and ensure the concerns of the faculty are heard. Why you should care: The faculty of arts makes up a huge portion of Kwantlen’s population, and the concerns of these students are placed into the hands of four people. Vote carefully.
Business Representative Four to be elected, four candidates.
Why you should care: It’s a growing faculty that desperately needs representation on the KSA council.
Design Representative One to be elected, one candidate. Candidates: Allison Gonzalez Biagi Role: To represent design students on the KSA Council, and ensure the concerns of the faculty are heard. Why you should care: This faculty includes a fair number of students, but until now they’ve had very little official representation on KSA Council.
Community & Health Representative One to be elected, one candidate.
in The KSA’s general election, students will select Representatives for the following 25 positions:
Science & Horticulture Representative Two to be elected, two candidates.
Candidates: Manpreet Bassi, Simranjit (Simran) Goraya, Lovenpreet Pannu, Waheed A. Taiwo Role: To represent the faculty of business on the KSA Council, and ensure the concerns of the faculty are heard. Why you should care: The business faculty is one of the biggest and needs strong representation on council.
Guide to the KSA:
Candidates: Manon Lee, Eric Wirsching Role: To represent the faculty of science and horticulture on the KSA Council, and ensure the concerns of the faculty are heard. Why you should care: Many students from this faculty are based in Richmond and Langley, and therefore don’t get the same level of services from the KSA.
4 campus representatives 14 faculty representatives
ACEDEMIC & CAREER Representative One to be elected, no candidates.
Candidates: Janice D’Souza Role: To represent the students in the faculty of community and health on the KSA Council, and ensure the concerns of the faculty are heard.
TRADES & TECHNOLOGY Representative One to be elected, no candidates.
7 constituency representatives
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Election Guide
The Runner
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February 17 / 2015
THE NEXT GENERATION Meet the candidates hoping to win a seat in the KSA election. //
Tristan Johnston Staff Writer
Torin Slik
Awais Mushtaq Contributor
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CANdidate responses have been edited for brevity and style. No one is running for Academic and Career Advancement representative, Trades and Technology representative, and Langley representative.
Question to candidates:
Why are you running? Tristan Johnston, Torin Slik, Awais Mushtaq, Anna Phan, Louis Luzuka, Mark Stewart
MATURE STUDENTS representative Michael Morris Policy studies POLITICAL SCIENCE MINOR ngo certificate
I’m a bit older and I have a lot of life experience, so maybe I can bring that to the KSA. I’m really interested and really motivated to try and continue what the KSA has done. [I want] to work toward representing the students in the best way possible—and looking at some new innovative ways as well. I just want to get a little more involved and give back to Kwantlen and the KSA.”
QUEER STUDENTS representative Kayla England
1 position
1 position
“Well, I do self-identify with the queer constituency, which is number one. I do plan on getting involved with Pride Kwantlen and helping them with some more projects, and doing some projects for the Queer constituency. [I’d like to have] some more inclusive or some more Slamming the Binary-type events. We haven’t had a representative for a while, and I’d definitely like to take up those initiatives.”
Policy studies
Students with Disabilities representative Kimberley McMartin Anthropology
1 position
“I feel that a lot of the projects that I’m doing currently could use an extra tweak, and there’s a lot of change that I still need to see: a lot more open discussions with Student Disabilities, the people that provide programs and accommodations, [and] there needs to be more normalizing discussions and an accepting culture of people who have disabilities. There needs to be more resources, more support. I just started the Disabilities Collective, and I’d like to see it fully functioning, complete and performing wonderfully. I feel that there’s a lot more to do, and a lot more that I can do within the KSA. I’m a little disappointed that no one else was running, [and] I would like to see more people running next year.”
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The Runner
Election Guide
February 17 / 2015
Students of colour representative Daniel Ali
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1 position
“Well, one reason, I’m a voice of all students of colour on campus. Another reason is that I’m very integrated with the school, its procedures and what we actually have going on in the school—or lack thereof. I have many ideas regarding things we can do to ramp up the multiculturalism in the school. But, most importantly, my main reason for wanting to become the students of colour representative is to be transparent, and to be a voice for any students of colour. That’s the most important.”
Marketing
Tobekile Mpofu political science
“I think I am in the position to make a difference in the colour community, and the reason I want to run is because I have programs that I want to see implemented. One of those is the Adopt Two Friends program . . . the other thing is the inclusivity and accessibility office I like to see being done at KPU, and also I’d like to plan multicultural events that will be planned by students of diverse clubs that already exist at Kwantlen. I think the KSA is doing its best but I think they could use a lot of improvements from the people who are running right now--we have great ideas and we need the support of the students to make it work.”
Candidate could not be reached for interview.
Al-hasan Rashid
Women Students representative Chelsea Scott
1 position
“Number one, I’m a woman and I represent the female experience. So, that’s a given. Number two, I’ve been involved with the KSA for about a year now just as a student representative on multiple committees. I’ve been to Victoria to do lobbying with the KSA for the provincial government. I’m the Alliance of B.C. Students representative for the KSA. I’m just a professional, level-headed person that would bring good ideas to the table.”
Policy studies
Aboriginal representative Justin Bige
1 position
“Within the past term, I’ve learned an incredible amount about my heritage and it’s helped me to to be as present as possible on campus to guide other Aboriginal students to any services or support that they may need or may not have access to.”
UNDECIDED
International STUDENTS representative Karanjot Dhillon PSYCHOLOGY
1 position
“I’m really social here. I talk to everyone here and know the interests of the international students [at KPU]. I know all the facilities they want, [and] all the programs they need. So, I can help them with that.”
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Election Guide
The Runner
February 17 / 2015
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Question to candidates: Why are you running?
Business representative Manpreet Bassi
4 positionS
“I’ve been very involved in the past year. I’ve made, I believe, very good decisions to move for council to reassess certain situations. Overall, I believe I’m a great candidate. I am in the business program so, of course, it makes sense. I hold a business diploma as well.”
BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
Simranjit (Simran) Goraya
“My biggest reason is campus culture. I want to create more of a campus culture, more unity through volunteer opportunities, networking events, and events on-campus.”
Business ADministration
Lovenpreet Pannu
“The first reason is student life. I’ve been actively engaging in so many clubs [at KPU]. The main reason I’m here is awareness. People don’t actually know what’s going on on campus. That’s something I want to change. I’ve noticed we have four candidates for Surrey [representtative], and we should have a lot more people. That will be my first focus, as a business rep, to tell people you can join elections and make a change. My second is totalk to all the instructors, maybe the ones actually willing to help different clubs and help students. We can try engaging in more workshops.”
Accounting
Waheed A. Taiwo
At the Runner debate for KSA candidates, Waheed mentioned the importance of student involvement in politics and stressed the need for networking amongst Business students. He said he would take the initiative to bring more Business conferences to KPU in order to help enable this networking.
POST-BACC. HUMAN RESOURCES
SCIENCE & HORTICULTURE representative Manon Lee
2 positionS
“To be honest, I’m quite new to this, but I’m very keen to learn anything I can: the ins and outs of Kwantlen governance. In terms of the student body, particularly the science department. I feel I’m very open and empathetic to hearing what people would like to improve. I like to address their needs. In general for the whole population of the school, I feel by offering as much support as possible to the student body, people are at their best to help themselves, and therefore support their community. So, that’s my goal.”
Sustainable Agriculture
Eric Wirsching Sustainable Agriculture minor policy studies
“I think board cohesion could be improved upon. We’ve already been working toward this end. Just improving council orientation and getting people on the same page and understanding what their role is, because, you know, most people are under 30 and maybe not as experienced in the business world, and this is business-oriented. We’re a non-profit society right? We have a lot of money we handle. [I want to] increase student outreach, make students understand more of what we do, more of how we operate, so that they can engage with us as well.”
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The Runner
Arts representative Victoria Fraser
February 17 / 2015
Election Guide
4 positions
“I want to get more first years involved, and I want to make more performing arts happen. I take initiative.”
CREATIVE WRITING
Simon Massey
“I’ve already held the position for a year now, [and] I’ve enjoyed my work. I’ve worked a lot with the Student Life committee, and I want to continue that work—especially in promoting clubs and further enabling clubs to do activities and bring life to campus. I want to try to start a hard campaign with the university to bring a dedicated clubs room, because right now all we have is a social justice space which is being used as a clubs room. But with how much use clubs need for it now its not really fulfilling its dual purpose—so I would like to get a preferably larger clubs space entirely dedicated to just clubs.”
CREATIVE WRITING
Alex McGowan
“Continuing to improve outreach is really important, support for clubs I think is really important, and the past KSA has been doing that, but I think we can keep improving because I think clubs are the avenue toward participation and community at this school. I believe that it’s really important that we continue to support clubs and host events, student life, that sort of thing. One of my primary missions this time around is lobbying and advocating on the behalf of students at the municipal, provincial and federal levels . . . I think I did a pretty good job last time around, and I hope to just continue on that.”
POLITICAL SCIENCE
Tanvir Singh psychology
“The reason why I’m running right now is because I’ve noticed some of the former representatives haven’t really been really focused too much on the clubs, and as one of the executives of the Kwantlen Gaming Guild, which is one of the biggest clubs on campus, we’ve really been looking into expanding. We find we don’t get as much support as we’d like to. I’d like to join the KSA to give us the support we need.”
Design representative
Allison Gonzalez Biagi
1 Position
“I actually think the KSA is doing a really good job, I just don’t think we’re really represented in Richmond and in the design school. I’m running for the design representative, so I just think it’s about time that the KSA also moved what its doing, which is really great, over to Richmond and the design school. I’m running because we’ve never actually had anybody run for design. As a faculty that actually pretty fair in size, I feel as though it’s time that somebody finally stood up and represented us.”
Interior Design
COMMUNITY & HEALTH representative Janice D’Souza Nursing
1 position
“I’m a vocal person, I’m an outgoing personality and I’m willing to make the commitment to this. I’ve been at kwantlen for four years. I think this would be a good opportunity to give back because kwantlen has given me so much.” D’Souza adds that “The health department is underrepresented in council,” and that she does work with the Kwantlen Student Nurses’ Association.”
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Election Guide
The Runner
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February 17 / 2015
Question to candidates: Why are you running?
Surrey representative Tashi Barungtsang
1 Position
“I’m hard-working and ambitious. I’ve proven myself in the past, running the Kwantlen Gaming Guild. We’ve hosted numerous events, widely successful events, events that had a lot of participants. I want to build up student culture . . . [and] community on the Surrey campus.”
Business Administration
Abdulsalam (Abdul) Kulan
“I believe I’m an active leader. I’ve been active in a men’s soccer program at KPU. I’ve been here helping new athletes to get comfortable with their campus and their studies. Also, I have an open door policy. Anyone that needs help or needs any opinion about things can come and talk to me.”
ASSOciATE OF SCIENCE
Scott Mossop POLICY STUDIES Economics MINOR
Vikramjit Saggu ANTHROPOLOGY POLitical SCIence minor
“I’m running because I want to give a fair and open mind here to all the faculties and constituencies on the Surrey campus. As a student, I think I could create some good policies for the KSA . . . I’m in support of community, social equity, the environment, and responsible business. Currently I stand with the KSA on a couple of committees. I work with START and volunteer, so I do support the KSA in most of their initiatives. I believe there is room for improvement, and it’s a position I hope to be in.”
“I have been hearing a lot of complaints about student life at Kwantlen—not that Kwantlen is a bad school, but I think that there are a lot of things that I can help with in the KSA council. I’m currently already on the student life [committee]. My experience as a member of the KSA, and being in Ottawa shadowing MPs and working with charities, and three Model United Nations—I think that really shows leadership skills that we need. [Also,] your voice is valued . . . you don’t really have to be a member of council to have an idea—you can just be a student, and I’m sure that a lot of students have these ideas.”
Cloverdale representative
Morgan McKee
1 Position
“I feel like I can help the students on Cloverdale campus with services and access to resources that they don’t have right now. I think that the changes [at the KSA] that have been made or overcome in the last few years have been magnificent in the best ways, and every year it just seems to be getting better in terms of the amount of services available to students. I’m seeing a lot of positive changes and I want to be part of that.”
Human Resources
Richmond representative
Chanel Kwong Business Administration
1 Position
“I actually live in Surrey, but I take most of my classes in Richmond. I noticed that there are more events on the Surrey campus. Whereas the Richmond campus is kind of left behind, and there is not much going on. I want to do some more events there and just bring the culture there. [I want to] make the students more alive and active, and more engaged in school.”
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Election Guide
February 17 / 2015
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Mark Stewart
Advertisem en t
Roland Nguyen
KSA election to include health and dental plan
referendum question Voters will decide whether part-time students should be included.
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Tristan Johnston Staff writer
On Feb. 18 and 19, Kwantlen Polytechnic University students will be voting for their new student representatives, as well as a new referendum question. The question will be “Do you approve of the inclusion of parttime students in the KSA Student Health and Dental Plan, beginning September 2015?” “When our provider, Gallivan & Associates was on campus, about… Sometime last year, we had them do a survey of our students to determine whether or not our students knew about the health and dental plan, what their experiences were with it, if they were going and speaking to our on-site staff what their experiences were there.” says Steven Button, VP of student services of the KSA. “One of the questions we asked was ‘would you be interested in having the health and dental plan rolled out to part-time students?’ “As far as the KSA is concerned, we’d
love to see this rolled out, but at the end of the day it’s what the students want. If the students don’t see value in that ,then they’ll vote no and that will be that and we won’t roll it out. If the students do see value in that, then they’re going to vote yes and we’ll roll it out from them. This was all brought about based on feedback that we received from part-time students.” Part-time students are defined as taking less than nine credits in a given semester; any more are considered full-time. Those who already have personal dental or health plans from their employer or parents are allowed to opt out within the first 30 days of their enrollment. The following groups are excluded: Adult Basic Education, Adult Special Education, Continuing Education, Professional Studies, Access Programs for People With Disabilities, and English as a Second Language courses. In order to pass, the referendum must receive a majority of “yes” votes, and a minimum of 250 students must cast a ballot.
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February 17 / 2015
notice of poll
GENERAL
KSA
12
ELECTION
february 18 & 19, 2015
For more information on the KSA general election, visit:
www.kusa.ca/elections
Each voter must show a valid Student ID to receive a ballot
General Election Polling
Wednesday, February 18, 2015 & Thursday, February 19, 2015 10 AM – 7 PM
Surrey Campus | Surrey Main Atrium Richmond Campus | Richmond Rotunda Cloverdale Campus | By the Cafeteria Langley Campus | By the Bookstore (near the KSA office)
Ballot Counting
Thursday, February 19, 2015 at 8 PM Surrey Campus | Fir 116
Chief Returning Officer | Corey Van’t Haaff
Election will be held for these positions:
Campus Representatives (4 positions) • • • •
Cloverdale Campus Representative (1) Langley Campus Representative (1) Richmond Campus Representative (1) Surrey Campus Representative (1)
Constituency Representatives (7 positions) • • • • • • •
Aboriginal Students Representative (1) International Students Representative (1) Mature Students Representative (1) Queer Students Representative (1) Students of Colour Representative (1) Students with Disabilities Representative (1) Women’s Representative (1)
Faculty Representatives (14 positions) • • • • • • •
Academic and Career Advancement Representative (1) Arts Representative (4) Business Representative (4) Community and Health Studies Representative (1) Design Representative (1) Science and Horticulture Representative (2) Trades and Technology Representative (1)
Kwantlen Student Association | Cell: 604.889.5437 | Email: kwantlencro@gmail.com